SCOOBA — A Wednesday ruling by the Mississippi Association of Community and Junior Colleges reinstated East Mississippi Community College’s undefeated football season.
Sort of.
In the second game of the regular season, EMCC dropped a 31-24 overtime decision to Copiah-Lincoln C.C. in Wesson. The loss snapped EMCC’s 25-game winning streak, which at the time was the second longest in the history of the National Junior College Athletic Association.
Copiah-Lincoln played an ineligible player in that game and in its season-opening victory against Itawamba C.C. On Wednesday, the MACJC ruled Copiah-Lincoln must forfeit those two victories.
Later in the day, NJCAA Assistant Executive Director Mark Krug said playing the ineligible player violated MACJC rules but not NJCAA rules. Thus, the association wouldn’t recognize the games as forfeits and that the MACJC would go by the results on the field.
No. 8 EMCC improved to 7-1 (counting the Copiah-Lincoln game as a loss) with a 49-16 win against No. 4 Northwest Mississippi C.C. on Thursday night at Sullivan-Windham Field.
“It really (ticked) us off,” EMCC sophomore defensive back D.J. Law said. “We knew for a couple of weeks Co-Lin played that player and we were going to get the win back. We thought we were going to get the win streak back, too. It really doesn’t make sense. We don’t understand what all went down.”
Copiah-Lincoln C.C. Public Relations Director Natalie Davis said in a press release that the Wolfpack unknowingly played the unnamed player in the first two games. After learning it might be in violation of the rules, he hasn’t played since then.
“The student-athlete in question was previously enrolled, signed, and certified by the MACJC,” the release said. “The college interpreted the new eligibility rule as the player would be grandfathered in, however the MACJC commissioner (Jim Southward) ruled him ineligible.”
The player played in 2013 at Co-Lin, didn’t play anywhere in 2014, and returned to the team in 2015. However, a rule change prior to this season made him ineligible going forward.
Southward told The Clarion-Ledger the new rule is designed to make sure MACJC student-athletes have a bona fide high school diploma or GED from an accredited school and/or a state government entity that is recognized by the United States Department of Education in which they participated in athletics.
Copiah-Lincoln parlayed the EMCC victory into the nation’s top spot in the NJCAA rankings the following week. However, injuries have since mounted and Copiah-Lincoln fell from the ranks of the undefeated with back-to-back losses to South Division opponents Pearl River C.C. and Hinds C.C.
On Thursday night in Wesson, No. 14 Copiah-Lincoln upset No. 7 Mississippi Gulf Coast C.C. 31-30 in overtime. The victory moves Copiah-Lincoln back into the No. 2 spot in the South Division with one regular-season game left (Oct. 22 at Jones County Junior College). Mississippi Gulf Coast already had clinched the South Division title.
If Copiah-Lincoln holds the No. 2 spot in the final week, it would play Oct. 31 at EMCC in the opening-round of the MACJC playoffs.
Krug’s statement said his association will go by on-the-field results and that the forfeited victories won’t hold any weight on a national level.
“The NJCAA can only enforce the constitution and bylaws adopted by its national board of directors,” Krug said in a statement. “In addition, the NJCAA supports the enforcement of rules and policies accepted by an NJCAA Region. Furthermore, the NJCAA is not governed by or affiliated with conferences that operate within the two-year college landscape. The authority of applying and enforcing conference rules is the sole responsibility of the respective conference.
“As it pertains to this situation within the MACJC, the NJCAA has determined Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) is not in violation of the Association’s national constitution and bylaws. The ruling of the MACJC can only apply within the conference and will not be applied nationally.”
After beating Northwest Mississippi, EMCC coach Stephens said he had no comment about the ruling from the MACJC or the ruling from the NJCAA. He added he didn’t like the rule and was sorry Copiah-Lincoln was paying the price for a rule that “is not very good.”
Stephens also said not receiving the win by forfeit on a national level wasn’t a big issue.
“Had we taken care of business on the field this would not have been a discussion,” Stephens said.
For now, it appears the records for Copiah-Lincoln, ICC, and EMCC will be ambiguous. EMCC Media Relations Director David Rosinski said the school plans to list itself with one loss until told to do differently.
The Copiah-Lincoln web site still lists the Wolfpack at 6-2. ICC is still calling itself 5-3 after a 35-0 victory against Mississippi Delta C.C. on Thursday night.
Since it was a non-division game, it won’t have any impact on the MACJC playoffs.
“It looks like we will have another chance at Co-Lin,” Law said. “Hopefully, next time around, we can win one on the field.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Scott Walters on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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